Hi everyone - - - I'm looking for a new rifle set-up for coyote hunting. There are two areas where I'll be hunting. One is rather open fairly flat country with grass and sage. The other is mountainous forest. In the mountain areas the coyotes can get fairly big. Ive seen them almost the size of a female German Sheppard (they eat lots of local turkeys). - - - I'm thinking of a .223 or .243 (lots of whitetails in the area). I'd prefer a water resistant finish (stainless & synthetic stock). It'd be great if the rifle were nice and compact and would weigh under 6 lbs without scope, so it'll be easy to carry over steep country. Any ideas on a rifle/scope & mount set-up that might fit the bill ? Thank you in advance for your suggestions. - - - Pointshoot

Unless you are really bent on getting a bolt action, it is really hard to beat an NEF .223 (they also offer the .243) Superlight for being compact, light and rugged. Not to menion easy on the pocket book and not too bad a shooter. All in a 35 inch package around 5 1/2 pounds with no scope.

I am sure, T/C has an equivalent, but I am unfamiliar with it, nor have I had a compact bolt action of such calibers and weight. But, I can certainly say that for what you are looking for in carry rifle, the NEF can provide.

pyral - thanks for the suggestion. I hadn't thought of using a single shot and will have to check them out. - - - Pointshoot

Pointshoot,

We'll have to hook up to bust some yotes, I'm taking my setup over this weekend for the evening after turkeys. I know that they haven't shown themselves up that far in the mountains where you're talking about but just south of there maybe 30 miles is a real good spot................I heard a lot of howling there in the last couple of weeks. Would be real interested in busting some of the ones over around your area. I also got to thinking about Moses Lake/potholes area, got a great idea but we would have to talk about that later. Have a good one & don't let work get to out of control.

Bldhound